Constitution by jfinan - FINISHED - BlueJacket Shipcrafters

[jfinan]

I'm quite pleased with the "authentic" look of the stained planking. The Constitution drawings indicate that the caprail overhangs the bulwark on either side by approximately 1/32" but with the addition of the optional interior and exterior planking, the bulwark is too wide. Two hours of further sanding brought the bulwarks do wn to a better fit. First interior plank is set, with some further adjustments needed.

[CPS_skybolt]

I like it. Looks great.

[dsandy60]

Jfinan, your build pics will be a big help for me as I start out. Have you tackled the gun deck yet? The poor quality of the drawings in the build book will make it tough.

Dsandy60

[jfinan]

After a short hiatus I'm back to work on the Connie. I've opted to copper the hull as per the original. The job requires approximately 1 500 plates, available as an option through Blue Jacket Shipcrafters. The first task is to remove the plates from the copper sprue. After that, affix each plate individually to the sealed hull. I'm a bit concerned about the gore strakes so a little more research is called for. I don't see a shortcut, so I'll see you sometime in 2020!

[jfinan]

On 5/31/2018 at 12:23 PM, coxswain said:

Well I'm here - in spirit if not in body - meaning I'll be watching with great interest even though I won't be any help, not being possessed of any useful knowledge myself.......Just curious, would this be the older or newer version of the kit?  Steve M

New one I would assume as this was purchased earlier this year. Talk about service: I came in to the store asking for the Connie kit and was told there wasn't one in stock! Imagine my dismay as I had driven down from Canada! I was asked could I hang around for thirty minutes? Not a problem as I got to check out the fabulous displays. Sure enough, one of the Blue Jacket crew assembled a Connie kit for me on the spot and I left a very happy customer. Now that's service! Thanks Nic and Co.!

[Geoff Matson]

I just found your build. It is nice to see how the Bluejacket kit comes together. You did a great job on fairing the hull and shaping the bulwarks. I will be looking forward to following the rest of build. 

 

 

[KurtH]

Very nice job!  Your hull shaping is evidently much better than my effort which is too sharp.  Beautiful job with the bulwarks.  Your solution to the quarter galleries is fascinating.  I never would have thought to orient the lower stools in that manner.  The parts they give are way out of scale, but it looks like you are getting around that by curving them more.  Your idea of staining instead of painting is something I would never have thought of.  Great way to preserve detail.  I may well try that on my next project.  By the way I did not have gore strakes on my model.  The Revell kit doesn't show them,  The Marquardt Anatomy of Constitution doesn't show them, and the photo of the real ship in dry dock doesn't show them.  Stealer strakes aft, yes.  Gore strakes no.

Edited November 7, 2018 by KHauptfuehrer

[jfinan]

If at first you don't succeed!
After many hours of separating the 3,000 copper plates from their spruces, I began the process of adhering the individual plates starting with the stem post and working along the keel. I laid the plates longitudinally along the keel giving me a 1/64th wraparound on either side. Also, as recommended, I slightly overlapped the  plates as per the original. After about fifty plates, I stood back and reviewed my work. I should have stopped after three! Ugh! Despite adopting a VERY careful process, the result appeared messy. To add insult to injury, the adhesive was tarnishing the copper. Time to tear off the unsightly, step back, and give this a re-think! Hopefully I'll still have enough plates to complete the job. Despite the recommendation to overlap the plates for authenticity, I believe I might "butt" them for a smoother hull finish. Thoughts?

[jfinan]

Coppering take #2. The keel is done and the hull is underway. Each plate is trimmed then attached with low vapour AC. Excess adhesive is immediately blotted out. Each plate takes about a minute with only 2,925 plates to go not that I'm counting...  

[Geoff Matson]

Be patient and plan ahead. Have fun.

 

[MrBlueJacket]

Jim,

 

Looking very good. Remember, back to front, bottom to top. Of course, with butt joints it doesn't make a difference.

 

Nic

[jfinan]

Hi Nic. I'm torn between authenticity and model appearance. Normally I am not one to take the "low road" but in this case my thinking is, on the actual Connie, from thirty feet away do you actually notice the plates overlapping? I've done two rows on one side of the hull using butt joints and I must say I like the smooth surface. Also it guarantees a solid adhesion. Cheers! J. (Shamefully, not a rivet counter!)

[MrBlueJacket]

No-one will look at your model and say "you didn't overlap your plates" - instead they will say "wow what a smooth job of coppering you did"

 

Modeling is part authenticity, but also part of the art of making it look good. Like I said in a past newsletter " putty and paint - makes it look like what it ain't"

 

Keep up the VERY good work!

 

Nic

Edited November 28, 2018 by MrBlueJacket
spelling

[jfinan]

I found about six different references on the best technique to copper a hull. All different! As you can see below, I ended up inventing my own laying in two rows of dressing belt at the waterline and four rows at the keel, then locating the widest point of girth on the hull and drawing a line perpendicular to the waterline. At the end of most rows the plates will be trimmed to fit against the preceding row. As expected the widest point will require one or two "filler" rows. That's the plan anyway. At least it's tidy! A note for anyone considering coppering: give the hull a coat of copper colour paint before you start. A few very tiny cracks of "white" are peeking through. Hindsight really is 20/20.

Edited December 14, 2018 by jfinan

[ccoyle]

14 minutes ago, jfinan said:

I found about six different references on the best technique to copper a hull.

Now there are seven!

[jfinan]

The fairer sex and model ships....they both have mysterious and vexing compound curves. I was a bit confounded as how to apply a straight line to a compound curve until I picked up a piece of highly flexible construction paper and had an "Ah-Ha!" moment. I'm going to clean up the plates above it before going further.
  

Edited December 17, 2018 by jfinan

[jfinan]

After two month's work and over three thousand individually applied plates the coppering of the hull and rudder is done. More than a few plates were removed and replaced to create a smooth finish. Now multiple applications or flat polyurethane. So far so good!

Edited January 29, 2019 by jfinan

[ccoyle]

[Fright]

Congratulations on the hull !!! 🥂 Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[usedtosail]

Great coppering job!

[MrBlueJacket]

I think you did an excellent job, and your build thread will be very useful to others.

[jfinan]

I came to a complete stop trying to envision the "hanging shot lockers" that reside on the inner bulkheads The kit sketches are....sketchy. Sorry Nic! No convenient Google images available. To further complicate matters I was (and still am) completely flummoxed as to where to source extremely small (we're talking 2mm diam.) canon balls. So.....I pivoted and made cannons. :-)

 

[David Lester]

Hi Jim,

Have you tired Cornwall Model Boats? These look like they might do the trick.

 

 

Cornwall Model Boats |  Model Boat Fittings |  Artesania Latina Fittings |  Cannon Shot | 

AL8659 Cannon Shot 2mm (100)

 

David

[jfinan]

Thanks David! I'll check it out.
I was at Home depot this morning and found some brass chain that might work. It looks very close to scale when held up against the canons:

[KurtH]

I thought that Bludjacket provided round shot in the kit.  My kit included these.  At any rate the are on sale from Bluejacket.

[glennreader]

You can use shot, as used in shotguns. It is often called lead shot but I believe that lead is now banned. You do not want the split type. It comes in many sizes and if you do not have a local shop it is available on Amazon. In the UK size 9 is 2mm. Just google lead shot size for more info.

 

Just had another thought and searched for 2mm ball bearings on amazon. Very cheap.

 

Glenn

Edited February 13, 2019 by glennreader

[jfinan]

Thanks David, Kurt and Glenn for your suggestions. I couldn't find shot on the Blue Jacket website and shipping from England was cost preventative so after a thorough search (and an effort to keep the cost down) I ordered a package of 250 2mm OD ball bearings from Canada Bearings. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks again for your suggestions.

[schooner]

Jim, your note about the hanging shot racks got me thinking so I did some looking around online. The Connie as currently fitted out in Boston does not have any shot racks evident on the gun deck, maybe they thought they would be trip hazards for the tourists. The full scale mockup of Connie's gun deck at the US Navy Museum in the Washington Navy Yard likewise lacks shot racks.

 

Soooo . . . I googled "USS Constitution shot racks" and the first thing to pop-up was a discussion thread from here at good old MSW titled "Cannon Shot Stowage on Deck" from Mar of 2015, if you look at the last post in the discussion someone put in a link to another discussion thread from someone who was building the Revell kit and had similar questions to yours and what he found out about them.

hope this helps

[MrBlueJacket]

6 hours ago, jfinan said:

Thanks David, Kurt and Glenn for your suggestions. I couldn't find shot on the Blue Jacket website and shipping from England was cost preventative so after a thorough search (and an effort to keep the cost down) I ordered a package of 250 2mm OD ball bearings from Canada Bearings. Hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks again for your suggestions.

 

We do have shot for the kit, ( 2 sizes I think) but because it is a kit specific part, it is not on the web. You can call and request it, however.

 

Nic

[jfinan]

I'm back. After a two month hiatus thanks to knee replacement surgery, I've begun work on the items to be mounted on the gun deck. In the picture you can see a scratch-built chain pump and the hatch coamings. I've used some scrap to line the interior of the hatches. I was unhappy with my assembly of the galleries.  It was my own error as I attempted to install them prior to fitting the transom. Lesson learned.